Educational collaboration is driving innovation in China's Greater Bay Area

Students pose for a group picture at Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University United International College in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, in September 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]

The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) is creating a network of innovation hubs to become an internationally influential technology center. Central to this effort is strengthening educational collaboration in areas like artificial intelligence, driving innovation and talent development across its 11 cities.

This strategy is crucial for boosting the area's competitive position in the global economy. It builds on the unique strengths of universities in the region and AI's transformative potential to ensure long-term sustainable growth. This multi-city approach also prevents over-reliance on a single city, where each city contributes complementary strengths.

In recent years, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has promoted active and continuous collaboration among the government, industry, academic and research sectors through various measures.

For example, Hong Kong is using targeted funding and tax breaks to help university research teams launch successful startups. The Hong Kong government's Research, Academic and Industry Sectors One-plus Scheme (RAISe+), a 10 billion Hong Kong dollar ($1.28 billion) program under the Innovation and Technology Fund, provides matching funds to accelerate commercialization. The government has also introduced enhanced tax deductions for qualifying R&D expenditure. 

The city has established interdisciplinary research centers that bridge academia and industry, conducting applied R&D work tailored to market needs and facilitating technology transfer through contract studies and licensing partnerships.

Hong Kong universities have started offering AI-related undergraduate and postgraduate programs, such as AI in digital media, business, education, data analytics and engineering. This development is notable given that five local universities rank in the top 100 in the QS World University Rankings.

Hong Kong universities also run joint and dual degrees with mainland partners such as Tsinghua University, China Foreign Affairs University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, alongside exchange programs that allow semester, summer or winter placements. Additionally, many MPhil and Ph.D. students now have supervisors from both Hong Kong and GBA universities, which again leverages expertise and facilities from both sides. 

Beyond these, newly established universities of applied sciences, including Hong Kong Metropolitan University and Saint Francis University, offer students additional vocational and professional opportunities through cross-border internships and work-based learning.

Regional alliances are further enhancing scientific and technological innovation collaborations across the GBA. A good example is the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Academicians and Experts Innovation and Entrepreneurship Alliance, which offers a shared platform for exchanges and cooperation among high-end scientific and technological talent. The alliance was established in April 2019 and was jointly initiated by more than 22 universities and enterprises in the region.

Similar multilateral, cross-disciplinary partnerships are emerging across the GBA, pooling complementary academic strengths to advance research and development, knowledge transfer and industrialization.

Ultimately, the success of the GBA hinges on its foundational principle of complementarity. Hong Kong's strengths lie in its international outlook, prowess in fundamental research, common law system and concentration of top-tier talent and global financial services. Meanwhile, mainland GBA cities contribute immense manufacturing capacity, market size, human resources, governmental support for industry policy and unparalleled geographical advantages within domestic supply chains.

Hong Kong's unique status allows this complementarity to thrive in the educational dimension, permitting the special administrative region to maintain its global systems while deepening integration with the mainland's dynamic development. By leveraging this unique advantage, the GBA can develop a new generation of talent and innovative industries, ensuring sustainable growth and prosperity for all stakeholders.

Mathew Wong is an associate professor in the Department of Applied Social Sciences at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.